PEORIA — Both runways at Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport were frozen over, director Gene Olson said Sunday night, as icy conditions continued to cause problems for motorists around the area.
Traffic collision alerts were in effect Sunday night in the city of Peoria and in Peoria County, as well as Creve Coeur and East Peoria.
There have been "a bunch of fender benders" and "a few serious accidents" according to Peoria police. Illinois State Police reported there have been slide offs, but there are no road or lane closures.
State police did report, however, that a 25-year-old man from Table Grove in Fulton County was killed Sunday afternoon in a crash in Menard County. The crash occurred about 3:40 p.m. on northbound Illinois Route 97 north of Pumphouse Road, according to a news release. For unknown reasons, the man's Jeep went off the left side of the road and struck a tree. His name was being withheld pending notification of relatives.
At Peoria's airport, about 4:30 p.m. Sunday the second runway at the airport had turned to ice, even after crews pre-treated the runways with 2,000 gallons of liquid pre-icer, Olson said.
An empty inbound 737 jet attempted to land on the runway but reported there was no braking, which has delayed all flights.
"Freezing rain and ice are one of the hardest things for airports to deal with," Olson said.
Crews continue to treat the runways with de-icer fluids, which hasn't helped yet, and spreading out sand. There is not a timetable in which the runways will re-open, which will happen once the crews "can get the friction back up."
Meanwhile, the terminal is open and "a bunch" of people are inside, Olson said, including airport and airlines staff and travelers.
According to the airport's website, inbound American Airlines flight 5946 from Dallas and Delta Air Lines flight 3325 from Atlanta have been canceled. Allegiant Air flight 104 from Mesa, Ariz., has been diverted to Cedar Falls, Iowa, and is waiting to see if the conditions improve in Peoria.
Olson said the terminal building remains open and the airline ticket counters are being staffed. Passengers should check with their airline through web pages, mobile device apps, text messages, 800 phone numbers, or emails to determine the latest status of their flights.
The city of Peoria's traffic collision alert was issued about 6:15 p.m. Motorists involved in crashes in which no one is injured and all vehicles are drivable, should exchange information and report the accident in person to the Peoria Police Department at 600 SW Adams St., within 36 hours after the end of the alert. All parties involved in the accident must be present in order to file the report with the Police Department.
East Peoria's and Creve Coeur's alerts says motorists should report non-injury accidents within 36 hours of the end of the alert. Peoria County's alert gives motorists 48 hours after the end of the alert.
About 8:30 p.m., Sie Maroon, Peoria's assistant public works director, sent out an update on the department's efforts to deal with the weather.
"After a relatively quiet day, the street conditions changed very rapidly after sundown," he said in a news release. "The current forecast has Peoria expecting snow and rain for the next several hours with a possibility of up to an inch of snow. The snow fighters have become ice fighters for the past three hours. Now with the latest change in precipitation they are back to fighting snow again. We will continue with trucks on the streets throughout the night and into tomorrow morning and again all day on Monday. Currently the arterial streets are being treated with rock salt and liquid calcium chloride. All residential streets were treated earlier today with salt and sand mix, which allowed for some thawing conditions. Per the city’s snow plan, unless there is two or more inches of snow accumulation on residential streets they will be not be plowed. We will analyze the street conditions for plowing tomorrow morning."
The Illinois Department of Transportation warned motorists about hazardous conditions Sunday.
“If you are going to be traveling, you should first ask yourself if your trip is necessary before heading out,” IDOT Secretary Randy Blankenhorn said in a news release. “We are working hard to make our roads safe and passable, but conditions are expected to be challenging. We are asking the public to please plan ahead, slow down and expect much longer than usual travel times.”
For regular updates on statewide road conditions, visit www.gettingaroundillinois.com. You can also follow IDOT on Facebook and Twitter.
The National Weather Service was forecasting cloudy skies Monday for Peoria, gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 36 and a low about 19.
Aaron Ferguson can be reached at 686-3207 or aferguson@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Sports_Aaron.